Evening Star Newspaper, September 22, 1935, Page 53

THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. ¢, SEPTEMBER 29 v 1935—PART FOUR. NAVAL ACADEMY TO OBSERVE NINETIETH ANNIVERSARY By Hugh J. Riley. Academy will celebrate the ON OCTOBER 10, at Annapolis, ninetieth anniversary. of its the United States Naval foundation. Development of the in- | stitution from small beginnings to its | Development of the Institutior present status will be the keynote of the occasion. George Bancroft, Secretary of the Navy under President James K. Polk, htly called the “father of the Naval Academy.” in 1845, entirely without authority or support of Congress, obtained old Fort Severn at Annapolis from the Army and established a naval school. As early as 1800 Secretary of War James McHenry suggested a compre- hensive plan for the training of offi- cers of the United States forces both on land and sea at a military univer- sity. His plan proposed a “funda- mental school, school of engineers chool of cavalry and infantry and s Military Academy at West Point was established two years later under this plan, but the school of the Navy was omitted and had to wait more than 40 years before it began operations. UP TO 1833, midshipmen were ap- pointed in uncertain numbers by the President—taken from private life with little consideration as to age, education and fitness for the service. After appointment they were sub- jected to severe and often brutal discipline at sea, according to the character of the officers who were over them, and forced to pick up their naval education in almost any way they could. There was nothing like a prescribed course leading to commissions, though the training in the technical side of the profession. gained in the hard school of experience and in morale and discipline, were of high order. Still fine naval officers were trained in this | school. As to general subjects, the educa- tion of the midshipmen was com- mitted to chaplains or to “school- masters,” civilians appointed by the captains. Facilities for training were inadequate and interruptions con- stant, Sometimes a ship carried neither chaplains nor schoolmaster. The establishment of a school of naval instruction ashore was strongly urged, both by those in and out of the Navy. There was also a large number of naval people and civilians who con- tended that naval education could take place properly only at sea. These folk defeated all efforts to establish & naval school on land. In 1827, President John Quincy #Adams made a strong recommenda- tion to Congress that an act be passed establishing the naval school. The proposal failed to pass the Senate by a single vote. Supporters of the institution for educating officers kept up their fight, however, and the pro- posal was urged by a number of occu- pants of the position of Secretary of the Navy. It was also strongly sup- ported in newspaper articles by the great geographist, Matthew Fontaine Maury. AKESHIFT schools had been es- | tablished between the years 1821 and 1838 at Philadelphia, Boston, New York and Norfolk. These schools were born within the Navy itself and were for the purpose of permitting midship- ’ Secretary Bancroft | | From Small Beginning at Fort Severn to Greatest Seat of Na- ‘val Education in the World Is Reviewed. 0ol of the Navy.” The | | men to “cram” for examinations. In- structors were schoolmasters detailed from different ships. Attendance by | the midshipmen was voluntary. | The most ambitious attempt at edu- | cation ashore took place in the Phila- delphia school. The school occupied the old Naval Asylum, now the Naval | | Home. In 1841, there were 34 mid- | shipmen at this school. The instruc- | tors in the Philadelphia school were | transferred to Annapolis when the | naval school was established there. | On March 4, 1845, George Ban- croft, the historian, became Secre- |tary of the Navy under President | James K. Polk. His biography does ‘nol disclose that he had any close touch with the Navy or with naval affairs. He was a New Englander, native of Massachusetis, a patriot trained in public affairs, and im- pressed with the miserable system of naval officer education then in vogue. | Without waiting for congressional action, and in spite of the fact that | that body had on several occasions |refused to sanction an institution of | the kind, Secretary Bancroft estab- | lished a “naval school,” laying the | foundations of the present Naval | Academy. He assembled the midship- men and established a corps of pro- | | fessors from the officers and school masters. 'WO boards of naval officers ap- proved the selection of Annapolis as the seat of the Naval Academy. | Secretary Bancroft appointed Comdr. | Pranklin Buchannan as its first su- perintendent. Of the seven instructors who were selected, the names of Profs. William Chauvenet and Henry H. Lockwood and Lieut. James H. Ward, all from the Philadelphia school, | stand out. All were brilliant men. The school opened with 40 midship- men in attendance. Commenting on | the opening of the school, the Mary- |land Republican, a weekly newspaper | published in Annapolis, said: “We |learn that the school is being organ- ized with all the rapidity consistent with methodical arrangement. The various buildings have been repaired and surprisingly improved, consider- ing the small expenditure and the brief time allowed, especially the quar- ters allotted to the midshipmen; and the professors are busily engaged in classifying the sailor students agree- ably to grade, merit and the nature < b ) of the prescribed studies. young gentlemen have already report- ed themselves, whose handsome ap- | pearance and gentlemanly deportment | give a cheerful aspect to the streets of our quiet city, and elicit universal | admiration.” The first midshipmen were divided into “youngsters,” just appointed, | ranging in age from 13 to 16 years, and “oldsters” ranging from 21 to 26, who had been recalled from sea | duty and ordered to the naval school. | The latter resented the association with the little fellows and were in- | clined to make things rough for them. | Thus did the hazing system, so long | & plague at the Naval Academy, come | into being, though it had existed in| | much rougher form on shipboard. There is little vestige of hazing at the |Naval Academy now, practically its only form being in the “rates,” cheer- i(ully carried out by the plebes. JFORTUNATELY, Comdr. Buchan- nan, the superintendent, was a ‘lstem disciplinarian. He served, how- | ever, but two years, being called to ac- tive duty in the Mexican War. Dis- | cipline was not always so strict under | | some of his successors. The midship- men seem to have been given con- siderable liberty in the matter of visit- | ing Annapolis, and brawls with the | townspeople were frequent. There were also duels among the midship- | men, none of which, however, resulted seriously. One incident in this connection will bear telling. Annapolis had an old theater, said to be the first theater | building in America, and a dramatic club of midshipmen obtained the use of it. The visits to Annapolis of the members of this orgamzation were not relished by the citizens and they | found a way of stopping them by buying the building, having it torn down and erecting a church on the lot. “Anyway, we have furthered the cause of religion in Annapolis,” was the comment of the leader of the dramatic club. Though the Naval School had started without congressional authority, that body recognized it the following year by appropriating $28,000 for its im- provement, repairs and for instruc- tion, and a like sum was appropriated the following year. In 1850 & new curriculum and code of regulations went into effect, and at the same About 40% Upper, left: The United States Naval Academy at An- napolis in 1875. Upper, right: Air view of the academy as it looks today. Extreme left: George Bancroft, father of the Naval Academy. Left, center: ball squad of 1884. Right, center: Rear Admiral David Foote Sellers, pres- Extreme right: The Navy foot The team of 1934. ent superintendent of the Naval Academy. Lower, left: Class in navigation in 1865. Franklin Buchanan, first superintendent of the Naval Naval Academy Chapel. Academy. Lower, right: time the name was changed from the “Naval School” to the “Naval Acad- the name which it has borne ever since. The midshipmen stationed at the Naval Academy took their first Sum mer cruise in 1851. The itinerary covered only a portion of the Chesa- | as the Ninety peake Bay, @ ‘‘crab-cruise,” midshipmen would call it now. midshipmen took the cruise on the | sloop of war Preble and the small steamer John Hancock, the squadron being commanded by Lieut. T. T. Craven. The following year Craven, carried the midshipmen on a cruise to the West Indies and Ma- deira. As a measure of safety, the Academy | was removed to Newport, R. I., during the Civil War. The midshipmen were taken there on the U. S. S. Consti- tution, then stationed at the Academy. In September, 1865, the midshipmen were brought back to Annapolis, where, under the administration of Admiral David Dixon Porter, as su- perintendent, the institution took on new life. Extensive additions and improvements were made to the grounds and buildings, the curriculum broadened and the department of engineering established, providing & different course of study from that for the midshipmen intending to be line officers. Admiral Porter also introduced an honor system, encouraged athletics and social diversions, such as dancing and theatricals, and was said to have “changed the Naval Academy from a high school to a college.” Under other superintendents many changes have taken place to adapt the courses | of ‘studies and teaching methods to | the changing needs of the service pro- duced by the rapid growth in sci- entific knowledge and the political development of the United States into a world power. IN REGARD to the scholastic and professional training accomplished at the Naval Academy, Rear Admiral David Foote Sellers, the present su- perintendent, has called attention to the fact that this instituion is called upon to accomplist in four years what it ordinarily takes other insti- 4 d the | Preble, again commanded by Lieut. | Comdr. Lower, center: tutions of learning just twice that time to accomplish—namely, both the academic and professional training of the student. He has pointed out that to prepare for most professions he student attends college for four ears and the professional school for a like period. To obtain the proper balance among | the branches which are taught at the academy has been the subject of the most earnest thought and discussion among those having the school at heart, including the officials of the academy and the Navy, of many mem- bers of Congress and the Navy De- partment and the members of the Official Board of Visitors, which each | year inspects the academy and re- ports to the President and Congress upon its needs. In 1932-33 the curriculum was con- siderably revised, a greater proportion of time than before being given to those subjects = termed ‘“‘cultural.” Those branches are now allotted 31.6 per cent of the whole time given to scholastic work. Science and mathe- matics take up' 312 per cent of the time and technical subjects occupy 37.2 per cent. Previously the cultural sub- jects had been given only 21.6 per cent of the time. The activities of the midshipman outside of his scholastic work are many and various. There are daily drills, including at different times In- fantry, Artillery and physical drills under arms, seamanship, small craft under oars and sails; ordnance, which includes rifle and pistol practice; gym- nastics and swimming. Athletics also is an important ad- junct to the life of a midshipman. Each one is required to take active part in some branch of sport. A spe- cial department, that training and athletics, supervises the midshipmen in these lines and they are highly regarded as an important form of physical, mental and char- acter training. The Navy's repre- sentative teams in various lines main- tain a high standing among the col- lege teams. Extracurricular activities include a literary club, & dramatic club, choir, glee and musical clubs, dance band, dances, the publication of the weekly Log and the annual Lucky Bag, the ) <“class organizations and the Christian of physical | Course of Training Cro ~ny ds v/ Into Four Years’ Academic Study All the Cultural Subjects of Conventional College Plus Navigation. Association. All of these are closely | supervised by officers as representa- tives of the superintendent and a high standard of attention and efficiency is required of the midshipmen who con- duct the different lines. WIT}{ the many requirements of of- ficial and extraofficial nature the day of the midshipman is, indeed, a full one. For the watch squad it | begins well befdre 6 o'clock and at| 6:30 the reveille bugle and a gong which rings for half a minute calls the midshipman to the activities of the day. Twenty-five minutes is al- lowed for the morning shower, shaving and dressing, and at 6:55 the call for breakfast formation is sounded. At this information the report of con- duct for the previous day is read. After breakfast the midshipmen go | to their rooms, where they make up | their beds and clean up. At 8 the | march to the class rooms begins. The | forenoon is divided into four periods of about an hour each, two being given to study and two to recitations. At 12:40 p.m. there is lunch forma- tion, at which the orders of the day are read and at 1:30 the fifth period | begins and consists of another reci- | tation. | The afternoon drills begin at 2:49 and last until 4 or 4:30. Each mid- shipman has two of the long drills each week. On Wednesdays, all m\d-‘ shipmen take part in a drill of the same character as determined by the executive department. A dress parade often takes place, weather permitting. On Saturdays, there are only two class periods, both in the forenoon, and the other two are devoted to drills. The afternoon is & liberty period. The recreation period lasts from the close of drills to 6:40, when he reports for dinner formation. The majority spend it in some form of athletics, which at this period is optional, and | otohers spend the time in the library or devote it to work on the publica- tions or other student activities. Study call is sounded at 7:55 p.m., the recall at 10:05, and 10 minutes later, taps brings the busy day of the midshipman to & close, leaving Bancroft Hall, with its 5% miles of corridors, to the care of the watch officers and the masters- at-arms. And now something of the physical Naval Academy, the grounds and 1 buildings which liberal law-makers have provided for the housing and training of the youths who are to be the officers of the Nation's Navy. If little interest was taken in the Naval Academy by members of early Con- gresses, so that Secretary Bancroft had to establish it without their au- thority or help, this cannot be said of the members of that body in more recent years. Through their generosity and far-sightedness have been erected on the banks of the Severn the greatest structures in the world devoted to | naval training. . Y SUCCESSIVE additions of land, largely from the City of Annapolis and some “made” land from the sur- rounding water, the Academy grounds have enlarged from the few acres that made up the old Army post to 184 acres, on which are. located 140 build- ings, representing a total investment of $28,000,000. Auxiliary grounds are for the hospital, rifle range, post- graduate school and dairy farm, bring- ing the real estate attached to the academy to 855 acres. The splendid chapel, in the crypt of which lies the body of John Paul Jones, the father of the American Navy, dominates the group of build- ings. Bancroft Hall, with accommo- dations for 2,400, the number of mid- shipmen now provided for by law, is the home of the midshipmen, and is connected by colonnades on the one side with Dahlgren Hall, which houses the department of ordance and gun- nery, and on the other side with Luce Hall, with the departments of seaman- ship and navigation and MacDonough Hall, in which is the department of physical training and the gymnasium, is one of the largest masonary build- ings in the world, and its front presents probably the longest continuous ma- sonry facade. The buildings which contain the | library, laboratories and other equip- ment for the cultural training of the future officers, recho the great names {of the Navy, many of their bearers being alumni of the Naval Academy. They are Isherwood Hall, Luce Hall, Dahlgren Hall, Sampson Hall and Maury Hall, grouped as the Academic Building; the Marine Engineering Building and the Electrical Engineer- ing Building. Thompson Stadium, in which the big match games of foot ball and other sports are played; Hub- 1 House and Lawrence Field, dious ground for base bal. ng large s ic plant of dmission the plebes are giver th tests by a system in whici s are carefully tried are not up to the standard, special exercises are directed. These ests are continue roughout the course. The medical officers also lec- ture the midshipmen on hysiene and care of their health and look after their ph: 1 well-being in general. and if a B NCROFT HALL. the home of th. midshipmen, where they eat sleep, study and spend a small amount of leisure, is a huge building of four floors and one of the largest masonry structures in the world. It covers 40 acres of ground, can accommodate 2400 midshipmen in comfort, has five and one-half miles of corridors ‘av‘ about a thousand shower baths | In Memorial Hall. a part of Bancrof Hall, is hung the flag flown on Perry ship at the battle of Lake Erie, witl the ng words of the heroic James nce, “Don’t give up the ship!” academy grounds and buildings bound with memorials which con- stantly remind the midshipmen of the glorious traditions of the service of which they are a part. The entrances to most of the buildings are flanked with cannon captured by the Navy in various wars. Striking monuments on the grounds are the Mexican War Monument, erected by the midshipmen to their comrades who lost their lives in that war, and the beautiful Tripoli Monument, a memorial to the six young officers of the Navy who lost their lives in the attack on Tripoli. No story of the midshipmen could approach completeness without a word about Tecumseh, replica of the figure- head which was carried by the old* U. S. S. Delaware, and which has played such an important part in the lives and efforts of generations of midshipmen. To them Tecumseh is the “God of 2.5.” that being passing mark, whom they woo for success in their examinations, on the field of sport and in the other activities of the academic life. The Delaware was sunk at Norfolk idunng the Civil War and, after being | salvaged, sent to the Naval Academy. The bronze replica of the figurehead was found to have rotted through 50 | vears of exposure to the weather and the class of 1931 presented a bronze replica of it to the academy, while the original was consigned to the museum. As successive classes have passed the statue of the grim old | Indian, its members have tossed pen= | nies in his lap, and a passing mark is | assured if they remain there. THE midshipmen are drawn from | every section of the country and | are truly representative of its young manhood as in no other institution, except its sister school of the Army at West Point. Most of them secured | their appointments through competi- | tive tests, so that the student body | represents a picked number of youths | from every section of the country, but | united in their patriotic desire to serve | their country in the Navy. Through- | out the 90 years of its existence those who have had to do with the academy have given their utmost to train thess youths so that they might serve ac- ceptably when they are needed. A